Paul Sassone

How can I be the only columnist in the United States to leave 2015 without having a say about Donald Trump?

So, here’s my say: Donald Trump is loathsome.

That’s my opinion.

His greatest sin against this country is that he has made bigotry respectable. There always has been prejudice in America. It hasn’t been 200 years since human slavery was practiced here. And it’s been been only 70 years since thousands of Americans were imprisoned solely because they were of Japanese ancestry.

We were ashamed of these actions. Most of us, anyway.

But along comes Donald Trump with his hate speech directed against Mexicans, Muslims and who else, I haven’t read the paper yet today.

That a rich, famous businessman and candidate for president can talk like this has emboldened every white supremacist, every hater of religions not his own and every aggrieved crackpot.

I saw a segment on the national news that attempted to show that not all Trump supporters are raving, raging bigots. The reporter interviewed normal sounding Trump supporters, several of whom said that Trump doesn’t really believe all the things he says. He’s just trying to focus Americans’ attention on important issues.

To which I would ask: Why should anyone support or trust a candidate who doesn’t believe what he says? Also, I seem to remember reading that many Germans said the same thing about Hitler — he doesn’t mean what he says. Well, look how that turned out.

I also hear or read of Trump supporters saying America needs to be run by a businessman. Business leaders know how to get things done.

Yes, they know how to enrich themselves.

But that’s not what the president of the United States is supposed to do.

Business skills are not necessarily translatable into government leadership skills.

Presidents and other government leaders must seek to benefit all the people they serve. And they must be able to persuade their constituents.

Business leaders only have to benefit themselves. And they don’t have to persuade. If an employee doesn’t do what he is told, he is fired.

Americans are not employees. We don’t need a boss. And just as an aside: Are bosses so wonderful? What do you think of the people who run the place you work?

Trump is self-confident, his supporters say.

That he is. But did you ever know a jerk who wasn’t self-confident?

And is self-confidence a good thing in itself? Or is what’s important what a person is self-confident about?

Haven’t we learned the dangers of elevating a tycoon since we last picked our present do-nothing Illinois governor?

So, I’ve had my say about Donald Trump.

He still scares me.

–My turn to have a say on Donald Trump–